1. Field of the Technology
The disclosure relates to the field of micromachined inertial sensors, tuning fork architecture, resonators, gyroscopes, and accelerometers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Quality factor is a important characteristic for the performance of many types of mechanical resonators employed as sensors. With the consideration of micromachined vibratory gyroscopes and rate-integrating gyroscopes, maximizing the quality factor increases sensitivity to external rotation and reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio. One method of increasing the quality factor for these types of devices is through the use of multiple-mass resonators operating in anti-phase vibratory modes. These types of resonators offer larger quality factors by balancing the linear and angular momentum of the actuating structure and reducing energy loss into the substrate.